US company Martek Biosciences Corporation announced on Thursday that the Company's nutritional oils, docosahexaenoic acid ("DHA") and arachidonic acid ("ARA"), are now available in term infant formula in the United Kingdom. The infant formula is manufactured by Wyeth Nutritionals International, an affiliate of Wyeth-Ayerst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. The DHA/ARA is being added to Wyeth's SMA Gold term infant formula, which currently has a 20 per cent share of the U.K. infant formula market. In total, Martek's licensees are now selling term infant formula supplemented with the Company's nutritional oils in fifteen countries, and supplemented pre-term infant formulas in approximately 70 countries around the world. "The United Kingdom is the first country where Wyeth is replacing their standard SMA Gold formula with a DHA and ARA enriched product," said Henry Linsert, Jr., Martek's Chairman and CEO. Martek's nutritional oils are pure vegetable oils containing two long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, DHA and ARA. DHA and ARA are naturally delivered to babies through breast milk, but are not currently added to most infant formulas. Martek Biosciences Corporation develops, manufactures and sells products from microalgae. The Company's products include nutritional oils for infant formula, nutritional supplements and functional food ingredients.
